Lenovo eyes China smart TV market — but sets sight on the world
HONG KONG, May 15 — First China, then the world. That’s the plan for China’s Lenovo Group as it has been travelling the country over the past week showing off its brand new 55-inch K91 smart TV, a product which is expected to hit shelves by the end of the month.
File photo of the Lenovo K91 smart TV. — Picture courtesy of LenovoSince first announcing plans to enter the smart TV market back in January, Lenovo’s executives have been playing up the significance of the product — both in terms of the company’s grand global plans and in terms of what, exactly, it offers to the consumers.
And the promotion policy seems to have worked wonders, with mainland Chinese Internet chatrooms abuzz with details of the new product and what it brings to the party.
Lenovo — China’s largest personal computer company by sales — is taking aim once again on market leaders Samsung Electric, the company which is currently dominating the smart TV market.
And at a press conference in Beijing, company representatives were on hand to show off every trick their smart TV is capable of, from checking up on developments on Sina (China’s most popular microblogging site, to watching films to playing games. The TV comes with free access to on-demand videos and 1,000 apps, the company said.
Lenovo has used Google Inc’s Android 4.0 operating system for its smart TV — faster, the company claims, than the one currently available on Google’s own TVs — and prices for the K91 line have been set at between 6,499 yuan (RM3,200) and 14,999 yuan.
The product will be rolling out first by the end of the month across nine major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Shenzhen, and the company says the international market will follow once it sorts out content sharing agreements.
“Lenovo not only wants to be a leading PC vendor, we also want to be a global leader in providing internet consumer devices,” the company’s CEO and president Yang Yuanqing said in a statement.
Lenovo’s moves come as LG Electronics Inc — the world’s second biggest TV maker — prepares a United States launch of a TV which makes use of Google’s platform, tapping into the likes of YouTube and internet search engines. LG’s new smart TV is expected to be launched in the US on May 21, with prices estimated at US$1,699 (RM5,100) for the 47-inch model and US$2,299 for 55-inch.
Consumers the whole world over are also waiting for confirmation of the much-anticipated smart TV from Apple — which is expected to hit stores by the end of the year. — AFP-Relaxnews
